1. Field
The present invention generally relates to surgical devices and procedures, particularly to devices and methods for the delivery of sutures and implants with sutures within a patient's body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Suturing of body tissues is a time consuming and an important aspect of most surgical procedures. Many surgical procedures are performed where it is necessary to make a large opening to expose an area of, for instance, a bodily tissue of a human body that requires a surgical repair. In various corrective surgeries or implant procedures, the bodily tissue must be returned to a normal anatomical position or placed in an improved position.
Suturing devices are used for these types of surgeries. These devices work on the mechanism of driving a needle loaded with a suture through a bodily tissue to be sutured and catching the needle after the suture has been placed. These needles loaded with a suture are specifically made for this process. Such devices include a needle catch portion and a needle catch slot provided in the needle catch portion to catch the needle.
The existing suturing mechanisms and devices may require pre-fabricated customized needles that are compatible to be used in these suturing devices. One may need to stock these types of needles for an unexpected use. The suture loaded needles may be relatively expensive as compared to sutures. Also, it may be difficult to load the suture loaded needles onto the suturing device and the needles may come off from the sutures due to occurrence of any manufacturing process imperfection. This may make the suturing process less cost-effective and dependent on the manufacturing quality of the needle loaded with the suture.
In view of the above, there is a need for a device and a method which could operate with normal sutures and could also circumvent the action of loading the needles onto the device.